100,000 Years of Isolation Except Not Really
by 13HoursInWonderland
Summary: As Impa watched the gate of time dissolve into orbs of light, she felt more sure of her fate than she ever had before. Here she'd stay, all alone, for as long as necessary. Maintaining a protective vigil over the mortal incarnation of Her Grace while she slept... That was the plan anyway. It didn't exactly turn out as anticipated.
As Impa watched the gate of time dissolve into orbs of light, she felt more sure of her fate than she ever had before. Here she'd stay for as long as necessary, maintaining a protective vigil over the mortal incarnation of Her Grace while she slept. Only after The Demon Lord's defeat would Impa be free of destiny; not even death itself could hinder her duty. Hylia had made sure of that, enchanting the sheikah woman with longevity, before the goddess had stripped herself of divinity.

While the last visible signs of the gate began to fade into nothing, as if a portal between times had never been at all, the realness of Impa's isolation began to settle in. Surprisingly, the woman found herself calm, her mind cool, and her body relaxed in face of solitude. Despite everything (her sense of duty, training as a sheikah warrior, prior knowledge to her role in The Goddess' plans) Impa had expected to feel something more than at ease once she'd destroyed the gate of time. Apprehension, pride, maybe even panic. One year of reclusion, let alone her predicted hundreds of years, was a daunting thought. Impa had recognized that from the beginning, but now that she was facing the reality of it, she was as collected as she had ever been.

If anxieties did eventually decide to show up (maybe tomorrow or in the next decade?) the sheikah would manage. Though Impa knew herself to be a strong woman she also knew herself to be human. She was no more immune to emotion sneaking up on her than anyone else. Yet she, unlike most anyone else, had been taught to manage said sensibilities accordingly. If heavy emotions did choose to hunt her down she would deal with them as they came, as she had always done before.

Just as Impa began to turn away from where the temple's gate had once resided, content to ready herself for a long wait and whatever traumas it might bring, any musing about what isolation would do to her became the least of her worries.

A low strum sounded, like an amplified pluck of a lyre's lowest string, and with it came a flash of pure golden white light. The illumination only lasted a moment, just long enough for the sheikah's guard to raise tenfold and cause her to pull a small blade from her person. Then, as the glare began to subside and Impa's disturbed vision came back to her in a daze, she made out a figure that had not been before. Assuming the worst, she moved to defend the temple and maiden housed inside with all the speed and grace her tribe had honed into her.

With a set of swift movements the whomever or whatever that had appeared was knocked down, letting out a muffled thump and a hiss of discomfort as their weight hit the ground. In an instant Impa was upon shape, but found herself hesitating when a verbal protest was made, familiarity tickling her ears.

"Whoa there granny! Friend! I'm a friend!"

 _Granny_? The title alone gave Impa reason to pause, if only at its ridiculousness. What kind of ally, foe or even demon invaded sacred ground with the taunt of granny to its protector? In the time it took Impa to ponder this the creature, no man she realized as she took a second to examine form pinned below her, spoke again and what he had to say fully drew her attention back onto him.

"Zelda sent me. Here, see?"

Impa watched as he cautiously moved, his eyes fixated on the blade she still held posed (insurance, should he try to attempt something foolish). Tugging at a cord around his neck the man revealed an ornate lavender ornament knotted to its end. Instantly Impa recognized pendant for what it was: a cuff once worn by the human incarnation of Hylia, and identical in every visible way to the piece her grace had offered to Impa upon their good-byes made minutes ago.

"Who are you?" The sheikhah demand, her features knitting in weary confusion. Despite the man's possession of divine ornament and a (so far) non-threatening disposition Impa didn't like being caught off guard. Thus she chose to remain suspicious.

"Really?" His voice hitched when he responded, eyes bulging slightly in sarcastic or genuine (honestly, Impa couldn't tell) disbelief. "You don't remember me after all I did to help out? I mean you yourself even commented on my heroism! I think those were your exact words. "

Yes, she had heard this man's voice once before; had seen his face (….and that hair) not long ago. He had come bursting through the gate of time after all chaos had broken loose, determined to deliver an encouraging message to Hylia's hero before he left to face the demon king. Recognition, however, did little to assist with recalling the man's name but it did confirm him to be a comrade. A friend to both Her Grace and her hero's reincarnations.

Satisfied (for now) that this man meant no harm to herself or temple Impa rolled away, but chose to keep her blade in hand. Though she doubted she'd be using it at this point, it gave her a sense of control when her head was starting to storm with confusion and questions regarding this new arrival. Why had her Grace sent him here? Had something in the goddess' future gone wrong? If so, why send this man and not her hero? And why to this moment?

As Impa navigated through her thought, reeling them in one by one, she allowed a part of her attention to sized up her company as he picked himself off the floor.

Though it had only been moments for Impa since she last saw him, it was apparent much more time had passed for him since their last encounter. When he departed alongside Her Grace and the hero this person had been a teenage boy, bulky with immature features. Now as he heaved to his feet and straitened Impa noted, though he was still recognizable, he was a boy no longer. Before her was a cultivated adult, more broad and seasoned, less hulking and juvenile.

"Remind me of your name." Impa finally asked, once her thoughts began to steady enough for conversation.

"You really don't remember me?" The man huffed a loud, gruff sort of laugh. "I may not be as pompous as I once was, but come on. You can't have forgotten about me. I'm unforgettable."

"Your name." Impa repeated her request coldly, flicking her hand that still held the knife in a showy gesture that she hoped would get her point across. The man eyed weapon as the sheikhah made her display. Although he made another short amused sound at gesture, Impa was satisfied when chuckle ended on a nervous note.

"The name's Groose."

"Groose." Impa tried the word on her tongue, quickly deciding she didn't like it much. "Why are you here? Has something happened in your time that I should be preparing for? Has the demon tribe taken drastic actions in the future?"

"What? No! Nothing like that at all. I can personal guaranty there are no demon lords, kings, or minions causing a ruckus."

"Then why are you here?"

"You see-" From the unease in his voice, as if the man were not entirely sure why he was here himself, Impa sensed whatever explanation she got would be a sloppy one. She was correct, as his following sentences came out patchy at best.

"I know you relatively well, I guess I should start out with. When you're a lot older and I'm a bit younger I mean, since time gates, magic and stuff makes that possible, we spent some time together. Then after all that drama with demons and 'the world as we know it ending' wrapped up I got to talking to Link over the years. I asked about you sometimes, about what you were like and what you did in the past. I mean now, since I'm with you in the past now. Anyway, after a while I got to thinking about you all by yourself for goddess knows how long. Leaving you to isolation for so long like that, it didn't feel right. So seeing as how you were there for me when I first arrived on the surface I figured why not? That is, if it's possible without a gate thing. Turns out it is possible if you know a certain spiritual holy magical kind of person like Zelda, so here I am!"

"What?" Was all Impa could muster after she took a minute to try, and fail, to comprehend the man's incoherent ramblings.

For a brief moment the sheikhah thought she saw her company's features darken with flush, but convinced herself she had imagined it when he shot her a toothy grin, full of cocky confidence. "In short, I'm here to keep you company granny."

A/N: I originally wrote this for a prompt from my beta. "Explore the relationship between Impa and Groose." Noe exactly what I think she was expecting, but it enjoyed it anyway! Not sure if I'm going to do more with this though...


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